Humidifier for detachable connection with cigarette packages



March 2, 1954 R ADAlR 2,670,990

HUMIDIFIER FOR DETACHABLE CONNECTION WITH CIGARETTE PACKAGES Filed May18, 1955 FIG. 2 F/G.

' INVENTOR. fizerizfldgiz;

Patented Mar. 2, 1954 HUMIDIFIER EDRKDETACHABLEY GONNEUTION'EWITH?GIGARETTETPACKAGES mammals, Highlands, N; J.

AppHatiOn-MayIS, 1953; sci-mm.- 355,445

aciaims'. (crass-24 Thisinventionrelatesi to aihumidifyingdevice Fig.4"isa bottom planview of the; humidifier adapted for detachableconnection with a cigardevicegl ligz 5 is"a-centrallongitudinalsectional ette pa'ckage, wherebytom'aintain and even inviewthereof; andFiga dis a transverse vertical crease the moisture contentof cigarettes enclosed sectional View of the same, taken online B -Gwithinithe'package, and'thus toprevent unde-. 5 inFig; -1. sirabledrying out of theecigarettespending re- Similar characters of referenceare employed moval thereoffrom the package forconsumption. initheabovedescribedviews, to indicatecorre- Owing to thezfinely divided orshredded form' spo'mzlirigv parts; 7 r of tobaccoiusedin paper-wrappedcigarettes-5 the In an illustrative embodiment of this invention initialmoisture content o'f' the' tobacco;- When the 10 as sho'wn, thehumidi-fying-device comprisesa flat; cigarettes are: exposed' toinfluence of"a'ir after relatively thin, rigid hollow body A closed atits the package is openedg tends tobe rapidly dissi forward-endandopen-atitsrearward end; and pated; so that'th'e tobacconot only losesflavor; having suitableopeningsinits-underside or b0t= blltithetemperature of. the-fumes;- when the e to tom wall; through whichmoisture; emanating" bacco is smoked, rises-to an-unpleasant degree;from containedmoisture charged absorbent Furthermore; in drying out theshreds of tobody; can be'emitted- Thebody-A; thUS= gEl1'- bacco' becomebrittle and tendto .break- 1119i 01' erally characterized, can bemade-of any suitable crumble into'fine-particles likely to beundesirably moisture= impervio'us material, but is" desirably drawn:into the mouth; when-the cigarettes are molded from a plastic'materialor fabricated from smoked to the-annoyance of the-srnokerr sheetplastic-material; v g A Having-the above =iir view; it is" anobject o'fThebodyof='the-humidifying device" is formed this invention to providea;simplehumidifierde by'a top wall; It; a" bottom wallll, sidewallsviceswhichcan be easily and quicklyapplied lz and a -forward'endwall ltwhich are unitary tothe opened end of a:cigarette=1'Jackag'e; con onewith' an'otherc The spacing of thetop wall tiguous't'o ends-ofcigarettescontaineditherein; l o relativeto-the' bottom wall II islimited'to subject to removal fromwhe pa'ckageewhen the providethe--body-withan internal chamber I 4' latter: is empty, so as=to beavailable for reuse which' is open-at its rearward end, andfwhich is inanotherpack'age; H I n v Another object of this invention is toercviaethickness of moisture absorbent pad. l5. This of'siifiieientheight to accommodate adesireda humidifier d-vicefor thestated purposes which 'pad' -I 5 may= bemade offany suitable absorbentis capable of insertion beneath, an end walLof material, such asblotting'paperorthe like; The

the-package, after-a'portion o'f"said"endwallis top wau;lU-is'imperforate; but theibottonr wall torn awayto'provideFaniopeningzthrd'iigh which is-perf oratee The'fo'rm andarrangement of pelw cigarettes can be withdrawnifrom the package .7foratione"oropenings;Withwhichthe'bottom walli interior;,the devicebeing so shaped and dimenl is-providedfissubjectjto wide-variation,hutfja sionedjas notto obstruct thelatteriopenin gandsatisfactory'formand? arrangement thereof; 0 as;

th'eidevic'e being providedwithlarretainin clip shown; comprisesapluralitypflaterally spaced means; to grip the package .e qywan, wherebyapar longitudinallyextending'slots It: ragga to preventaccidntaldis'placement of the device t'e'rior surface-oftheforwardend'walll3 isdowm' from its inserted and assembled relation tothe 40 wardly and outwardly inclined from the exterior package. surfaceof the top wall [0 to the exterior surface The above and other objectswill be underof the bottom wall Ii, and is also of transversely stoodfrom a reading of the following detailed curved conformation from sideto side of the description of the invention in connection with body,thus providing the forward end of the body the accompanying drawings, inwhich: with a rounded external chamfered nosing l1.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the humidifier de- Affixed by itsoffsetting butt end [8 to the exvice of this invention. ternal surfaceof the top wall ID, at a point ad- Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspectiveview of an jacent to the rearward open end of the body A, openedcigarette package showing the humidifier isa forwardly andlongitudinally extending redevice of thisinventioninserted thereininoperasilient clip arm I9, the free end portion 2!) of tive assembledrelation thereto. which is yieldably biased toward and in engage- Fig. 3is a fragmentary side elevational View ment with the external surface ofthe body top of an opened cigarette package, with parts in wall. Thebody A is made of a width somewhat longitudinal section, showing thehumidifier deless than the distance between the face walls of viceoperatively assembled therewith. 1;; a cigarette package with which itis to be used,

3 and of a length substantially less than the distance between the sidewalls of said package.

Preparatory to use of the humidifying device, the pad 15 is removed andcharged with moisture and then returned into the chamber M of the body Afor enclosure within the latter.

In the use of the humidifying device, after a portion of an end wall ofa cigarette package 2! has been torn away to provide an opening 22 inthe end of the package, adjacent to one side thereof, through whichcigarettes contained therein can be withdrawn for use, the body A isinserted bottom face downward, through the opening 22, to pass beneaththe remaining portion 24 of said end wall, whereby to lie between thelatter and the ends of the cigarettes 23. Such inserting movement of thebody A into the package interior is facilitated by the chamfered nosingIT, the included and rounded contours of which will distend the packagewall, so that the latter will readily yield to the ingoing movement ofthe body A without risk of being torn or otherwise mutilated. As thebody A is thu inserted, the resilient clip arm 19 will pass over theexternal face of the said package end wall portion 24, so that said wallportion will be gripped between said arm and the top face of the body A,and consequently the humidifying device will be securely held againstaccidental displacement from its operative assembled inserted relationto the package. Since the body A is of substantially less length thanthe distance between the side walls of the package, when said body Aoccupies its operative inserted position within the package, it willclear the opening 22 formed in the package end wall, and consequentlywill not impede access to the cigarettes through said opening, orwithdrawal of the cigarettes therethrough. Since the bottom wall ll ofthe inserted body A faces the ends of the cigarettes contained in thepackage, moisture emanating from the moist pad I5 within the body willbe emitted through the slot 16 of the bottom wall so as to contact thetobacco in the cigarettes, whereby to keep said tobacco in desirablymoist condition, and thereby from quickly drying out.

After a package served by the humidifying device is empty, said devicemay be easily removed, again charged with moisture, if necessary, andthen applied to another package. From this it will be understood thatthe device is substantially indestructible, and is well adaptedforrepeated use over and over again.

. Having. now described my invention, I claim:

1. A humidifier device for detachable insertion within a cigarettepackage through a cigarette access opening formed by tearing away aportion of an end wall of the package adjacent to a side thereof, saidhumidifier comprising a substantially rigid and flat rectangular hollowbody closed at its forward end and open at its rearward end, a moistureabsorbent pad entered in said body through the rearward open endthereof, said body having a perforate bottom wall, and a longitudinallydisposed, forwardly directed, resilient clip arm afiixed by its rearwardbutt end portion to the top wall of said body, said body, in use, beinginserted through said cigarette access opening of the package to liebetween said package end wall in which said opening is formed and theends of contained cigarettes opposed to said end wall, with theperforate bottom wall of the body opposed to said cigarette ends, andwith the clip arm disposed exteriorly of said end wall to grip the samebetween said clip arm and the top wallof the inserted body, said bodybeing of a length substantially less than the length of said package endwall whereby, when inserted within the package, it will leave asubstantial portion of the cigarette access opening unobstructed.

2. The humidifier device of claim 1 wherein the perforate bottom wall ofthe body is formed by a plurality of laterally spaced apart longitudinalslots;

3. The humidifier device of claim 1 wherein the body is provided with atransversely rounded, downwardly and outwardly chamfered external nosingat its forward end.

4. A humidifier device for detachable insertion within a cigarettepackage through a cigarette access opening formed by tearing away aportion of a wall of the package, said humidifier device comprising asubstantially rigid, flat hollow body, a moisture absorbent pad withinthe body interior, said body having a perforate bottom wall, said bodybeing further provided with a transversely rounded, downwardly andoutwardly chamfered external nosing at its forward end, and a resilientclip arm afiixed to the top wall of said body, said body, in use, beinginserted through said cigarette access opening of the package to liebetween the package wall in which said open- References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 911,392 GlattFeb. 2, 1909 1,540,484 Larsen June 2, 1925 2,227,158 Saul Dec. 31, 1940Hagan Dec. 30, 1952

